Liverpool's first defeat in 11 years, which became a neighborhood book, is all because of Arnold
Arne Slot Liverpool manager and Trent Alexander Arnold. REUTERS Yonhap News
Trent Alexander-Arnold. Source = Real Madrid homepage capture
모하메드 살라. AP Yonhap News
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid), who left the team as the cause of Liverpool's poor performance, which has been mired in four consecutive losses, is being pointed out.
'Defending Champ' Liverpool lost 1-2 to Manchester United in the eighth round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2025-2026 season at Anfield in Liverpool, England on the 20th (Korea time). Following Crystal Palace (1-2), Galatasaray (0-1 loss), and Chelsea (1-2 loss), Manchester United also fell into a four-game losing streak. It is the first time in 11 years that Liverpool has lost four consecutive games since November 2014, when current Celtic manager Brandon Rogers was led.
As Liverpool's slump continues, the longing for Arnold seems to grow. Ahead of the new season, Liverpool manager Arne Slot reorganized the tactical system after franchise star and main right-back Arnold moved to Real on a free agent. Jeremy Frimpong, who played for Bayer Leverkusen, was also recruited to fill the vacancy.
The most noticeable loss is the decrease in long passes. Arnold's long pass to Mohamed Salah was the `magic key' for Liverpool to overcome the opponent's strong pressure. Arnold's pass often dictated victory or defeat in important games. He put an accurate pass into the back space of the opponent's defense. It's a quality that Conor Bradley and Frimpong don't have. Arnold had 12 long passes per 90 minutes last season. Bradley and Frimpong have only four and two this season, respectively.
Florian Birz (right). AP Yonhap News
In addition, Arnold was outstanding in the set-piece situation. Of the 86 assists recorded by Liverpool, 21 came from set pieces. Recently Liverpool haven't had any fun at set-pieces.
The slot manager left Florian Birz to deploy the attack to tactically fill Arnold's gap, a clear attacking route. I expected the attack to be released from the center. For Birz, who has scored 34 goals in the last two seasons with Leverkusen, his role as a playmaker was 'Unfit Clothes'. Birtz, who was struggling to adjust, eventually recently went down to the bench. He also replaced Manchester United in the second half.
Liverpool's average number of counterattacks last season more than doubled from 3.4 times per 90 minutes to 1.3 times this season. It is analyzed in the aftermath of Arnold's departure, which played a big role in the development of the attack.
The player hardest hit by Arnold's departure is none other than Salah. Salah received Arnold's keen space pass and often faced one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but now he receives the ball more often with his back to the net. It is unreasonable to ask Salah, who has lost his physical ability at the age of 33, to break through one-on-one for the entire 90 minutes like Bukayo Saka (Arnall).
Mohamed Salah (right). REUTERS Yonhap News
Arnold recorded a line-breaking pass toward Salah a total of 147 times last season. This is the highest number of passes by one player in the EPL to another. Josko Gvardiol passed 108 times to Jeremy Doku (Manchester City). There have been no cases in which Liverpool right-back and Salah have scored a goal this season. Salah's ball touch in the penalty area was reduced from 10 to 5 per 90 minutes last season. The score was also noticeably reduced. He scored only two goals (one penalty kick) in eight league games.
In addition, Salah's influence was also the least since joining Liverpool. The ball touch per 90 minutes is 39, the lowest in Salah's entire career. Salah had trouble threatening his opponents against Manchester United. The most brilliant player in Liverpool was Cody Hakpo, who played opposite Salah.
Liverpool, which has remained at 15 points, has recently fallen to fourth place due to three consecutive league losses. It was four points clear of the leading Arsenal (19 points). Statistics firm 'Opta' gave Arsenal the highest probability of winning the championship at 51.74%. Liverpool is the second highest at 21.61%, followed by Manchester City (16.70%) and Chelsea (4.05%).
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
